Androgens are the hormones that cause most of the masculinizing changes that occur in males during puberty. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 12th Edition (New York, N.Y.: McGrawHill, Inc., 1991). However, low levels of androgens are also present in normal females. Testosterone and other androgens are secreted by the ovary and the adrenal cortex. See, e g., Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 9th Edition (New York, N.Y.: McGraw Hill, Inc., 1996). Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and androstenedione are also synthesized by both the adrenal gland and the ovary and can be converted to testosterone or estrogen in peripheral tissues. The daily rate of production of testosterone in women is on the order of 0.25 mg, about half of which is derived from the metabolic conversion of androstenedione to testosterone at extraglandular sites. The plasma concentration of testosterone in women alters with the menstrual cycle and ranges from 15 to 65 nanogam/deciliter (ng/dl). As with estrogen, testosterone levels peak at the preovulatory and luteal phases of the cycle. At menopause, plasma androgen and estrogen levels are reduced but not completely absent in women. Alteration in the hormone profile is believed to be an underlying cause of menopausal symptoms in women, including vasomotor instability ("hot flash"), atrophy of the urogenital epithelium and skin, decreased size of the breasts and osteoporosis. See, e.g., Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, supra.
Alteration in normal hormonal levels can also cause sexual dysfunction. For example, estrogen deficiency, causing vaginal atrophy and dyspareunia, is a common cause of sexual dysfunction. Dyspareunia is thought to affect approximately 40% of women; it has been estimated that over 40 million female individuals will suffer dyspareunia at some time in their lives. On the order of twenty-five million women will experience dyspareunia in the peri- and postmenopausal periods (Kelly (1992) Clinical Practice and Sexuality 8(8):2; and Sato et al. (1992) Clinical Practices in Sexuality 8(5):1.
Estrogen therapy is commonly used in the pharmacological treatment of altered hormone profiles or sexual dysfunction in women. Estrogen-based therapies are generally used to increase mucous production, provide vasodilator effects, and/or to increase the general health of the vagina. Nadelson et al., eds., Treatment Interventions in Human Sexuality (New York: Plenum Press, 1983). In such treatments, estrogen is administered orally, parenterally (e.g., by injection), or topically. With oral administration, as is true with the oral administration of many steroid hormones, estrogens tend to be inactivated; estradiol, for example, is converted to estriol and estrone and then conjugated to glucuronic acid or sulfate. Additionally, estrogens also impair hepatic secretory activity. This "first pass" effect may lead to an undesirable increase in the production of certain coagulation factors and other biologically important compounds by the liver. Parenterally administered estrogen avoids the aforementioned problems associated with oral administration. However, all estrogen-based therapies are known to increase the risk of endometrial hyperplasia and cancer, as well as the risk of breast cancer, in treated individuals.
Because of the increased risk of endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial cancer encountered with unopposed estrogen therapies, estrogen/progestin combinations have been employed. However, such therapies, as is well known, result in a number of side effects, including uterine bleeding and the continuation of menstrual periods. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art to provide safer and more effective treatments for administering active agents suitable for female hormone replacement therapy.
The present invention is directed in part to the aforementioned need in the art, and provides highly effective hormone replacement therapy for women in need of such treatment. The invention involves the use of a pharmaceutical composition in the form of a drug dosage unit to be applied to the buccal mucosa. In contrast to prior methods for effecting hormone replacement, the present invention avoids both gastrointestinal degradation of the drug and the "first pass" effect in the liver encountered with oral formulations, and enables the use of smaller doses of active agents (and thus avoids the side effects associated with conventional formulations). In addition, when an androgenic agent is included, as in the preferred embodiment herein, essentially complete hormone replacement is provided. That is, with respect to the latter point, estrogen/progestin therapies do not in fact provide "replacement" of the complete hormone profile of the premenopausal woman, because, as discussed above, androgens are also present in premenopausal women. In a preferred embodiment, then, the present invention calls for one or more androgenic agents to be administered along with a progestin and an estrogen.
The method and compositions of the invention may also be used to treat other conditions for which the disclosed hormone combination is useful. For example, the novel drug dosage units can be used to treat female sexual dysfunction, to effect female contraception, to improve vaginal muscle tone and tissue health, and to enhance vaginal lubrication.
Drug therapy for treating female sexual dysfunction has been described. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,323 to Stem describes the use of the anxiolytic m-chloro-.alpha.-t-butylamino-propiophenone in the treatment of sexual dysfunction in male and female individuals. Pharmaceutical compositions containing the agent are described, which are presented in discrete units, e.g., cachets, tablets, capsules, ampules and suppositories for oral or anal delivery of the agent. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,421 to Foreman describes the treatment of sexual dysfunction in male and female individuals using the stereoisomers of octahydro-pyrimidoquinoline agents, centrally acting dopamine agonists. U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,967 to Riley describes the treatment of sexual disorders in male and female individuals using heterocyclic benzodioxinopyrrole compounds, which, like the drugs described in the aforementioned patents, are centrally acting agents.
Drug therapy involving buccal administration of steroid hormones has also been described. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,386 to Hsiao et al. generally describes the buccal administration of various medicaments, including estrogens, progestins and androgens; combinations of the medicaments, however, are not contemplated. Furthermore, the buccal tablets of Hsiao et al., weighing on the order of 50 mg, contain adhesive, disintegrant and excipient in addition to the active agent, with the inactive ingredients representing up to about 90 wt. % of the formulation. U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,378 to Keith et al. describes rapidly disintegrating dosage forms utilizing a combination of high and low molecular weight polyethylene glycols; the dosage forms, which are preferably 50 mg to 100 mg tablets, may be administered orally or through the buccal mucosa. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,752 to Snipes et al. describes buccal delivery systems containing polyethylene glycols of varying molecular weights for the delivery of methyl testosterone or estradiol. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,774 to Pitha et al., crystalline complexes of steroid hormones and gammnacyclodextrin are described for administration of steroids through mucosal tissue.
The buccal drug dosage units and methods of the present invention are, however, new and completely unsuggested by the art. Applicants' invention is premised on the discovery that steroidal agents, particularly an androgenic agent in combination with an estrogen and a progestin, can be buccally administered to provide for a highly effective method of female hormone replacement therapy. The buccal dosage units provided herein can also be used for other purposes, e.g., treatment of female sexual dysfunction, female contraception, improvement of vaginal muscle tone and tissue health, enhancement of vaginal lubrication, and the like.